Trump Picks First Woman White House Chief of Staff: All You Need to Know About Susie Wiles

Washington: President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Susie Wiles, the defacto manager of his presidential  campaign, as his White House chief of staff. Wiles becomes the first woman to hold this influential role.

"Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again," Trump said in a statement.

"It is a well-deserved honour to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”

Wiles is a widely credited personality within and outside Trump’s inner circle for running which was, by far, his most disciplined and well-executed campaign, and was seen as the leading contender for the position.

During the campaign she largely mostly the spotlight and even refused to take the mic to speak as Trump celebrated his victory early Wednesday morning. However, she resisted the formal title of campaign manager, avoiding becoming a target, given Trump’s history of cycling through people in that role.

This appointment comes as crucial one as Trump, who promised in 2016 to hire "only the best people" has since repeatedly said that the biggest mistake of his first term was hiring the wrong people.

Who is Susie Wiles?

Born on 14 May 1957 in New Jersey, Susan Summerall Wiles is an American political consultant who served as co-chair of Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

Her political career began in 1979 when she was hired as an assistant for Representative Jack Kemp. In 1980, she joined Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign as a campaign scheduler.

During the 80s Susie served as a chief of staff to John Delaney, who was then serving as mayor of Jacksonville.

She also worked for U.S. Representative Tillie Fowler.

In the 2016 presidential election, Wiles ran the Trump campaign's operations in Florida. Back then she was reportedly deputised by Trump to help Republican Ron DeSantis' campaign for Governor.

DeSantis his victory speech described Wiles as the "best in the business".